What if Schools Considered User Experience?

At a recent tech showcase in Southeast Tennessee, ​I had a fascinating conversation with the User Experience Analytics Manager from a major retail conglomerate. He was demoing their latest software development. His company owns several malls in the US and they recently added free high-speed WiFi to each location. This was a strategic investment that extended far beyond the publicized interest in attracting customers back to brick-and-mortar retail. The WiFi installment gives customers free connectivity to the internet, but it also returns invaluable information to the mall owners. The moment a customer connects to the free WiFi, the mall immediately has access to portions of the user's digital footprint and their activity while shopping. The software allows the mall to create a heat map for each location that shows and analyzes customer traffic, average time spent in front of and in each store, time spent in the mall, number of stores visited, etc. He assured me (and I believe him) that they don't get any private or identifiable data, but they can see portions of each user's browsing data. More importantly, their analytics engine gets this information. Leveraging the same advanced analytics algorithms that large online companies like Amazon use to send you targeted adds (those adds where you Google "blue sweater" and then see a bunch of adds from Amazon on social media, showcasing a variety of blue sweaters), the mall is now able to sell analyzed, user-specific data to the retailers who lease space in their mall.

At a recent tech showcase in Southeast Tennessee, ​I had a fascinating conversation with the User Experience Analytics Manager from a major retail conglomerate. He was demoing their latest software development. His company owns several malls in the US and they recently added free high-speed WiFi to each location. This was a strategic investment that extended far beyond the publicized interest in attracting customers back to brick-and-mortar retail. The WiFi installment gives customers free connectivity to the internet, but it also returns invaluable information to the mall owners. The moment a customer connects to the free WiFi, the mall immediately has access to portions of the user's digital footprint and their activity while shopping. The software allows the mall to create a heat map for each location that shows and analyzes customer traffic, average time spent in front of and in each store, time spent in the mall, number of stores visited, etc. He assured me (and I believe him) that they don't get any private or identifiable data, but they can see portions of each user's browsing data. More importantly, their analytics engine gets this information. Leveraging the same advanced analytics algorithms that large online companies like Amazon use to send you targeted adds (those adds where you Google "blue sweater" and then see a bunch of adds from Amazon on social media, showcasing a variety of blue sweaters), the mall is now able to sell analyzed, user-specific data to the retailers who lease space in their mall.

I'm going to get to education in a minute--stay with me while I flesh this out.

Suppose H&M is in one of these malls and has decided to invest in consumer data. You've been shopping online for a new pair of jeans and found some for $70 at thegap.com, but you really want to try them on first, so you head to the mall. When you arrive, your phone connects to the free WiFi. You stroll through the mall, purchase a cookie (I have a hard and fast rule that I don't go to the mall without stopping by the Great American Cookie store for a sugar cookie double doozie as my first stop) and then head toward The Gap. En route, you'll have to pass H&M, where you've never really shopped before. As you approach the H&M storefront, their analytics software, which has been tracking you since you entered the mall, sees you coming. As you turn the corner, their digital storefront window switches to showcase a video of a couple enjoying a walk on the beach resembling the one you just visited on vacation. You guessed it, they are wearing the exact pair of jeans you were looking for. Since H&M could see your browsing history, the software realizes you could be swayed by a small discount, so they run an immediate sale. The window shows the jeans with a $10 discount! You walk into the new store and a customer associate, recently notified on her smart watch, greets you, holding the jeans you want, in your size, and casually asks, "Is there anything I could help you find?"

This isn't the future. It's the present. The technology exists. It can literally happen tomorrow. As long as as the criminal justice department doesn't have plans to announce a pre-crimes division, I'm all for embracing this kind of customer-centric user experience. 

As cool as this shopping experience could be, it got me thinking about the implications of similar technology in the classroom. One of my biggest frustrations with the testing culture is that it completely negates the art of teaching and relegates effective teaching to a formulaic science that can be quantitatively measured. However, what if science could amplify artistic teachers? The most effective teachers blend research-based strategies with an innate ability to deliver engaging, transformative learning experiences for their students. One critical component in this endeavor is a teacher's ability to formatively assess student engagement and understanding. The very best teachers do this seamlessly and constantly. However, even the best teachers can't possibly constantly keep their finger on the pulse of each student. One of the most important instructional tools teachers use is quality formative assessment--that is, figuring out if students are getting it and if not, why--it is practically impossible for any one person to do this in real-time, all the time. But what if user experience technology could help. I imagine a classroom equipped with an array of cameras and sensors, linked to facial analysis and user experience analytics software. As students,  engage in the lesson, the teacher's tablet could display real-time analytics on each student. Amazon wants to make sure you find the perfect pearl necklace and goes to great lengths to leverage your online experience to ensure that you buy that necklace from them. What if we could use the same technology to make sure that students get what they need, right when they need. It could be the ultimate, just-in-time-learning!

I don't want to get arrested for a crime a computer anticipated I would commit, but I am excited to consider teaching in classrooms where I don't have to trust my gut regarding student engagement and learning.

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